Legend of Korra

[Popadoo]

Hey fellow escapees!
I've heard nothing but good things from this Legend of Korra show, and I was looking into starting to watch it. I understand it follows on or is somehow related to The Last Airbender show, which I didn't see.
I ask the fans of the show, would I have to know about the lore and characters and what-not before starting to watch LoK, and if so can someone give me a TL;DR version so I can start. Any other suggestions on if and how I can understand the show if I started watch are welcome.
I have a lot of time to try out some new shows lately.
(Season 3 seems so far away...)

 

[Keoul]

I am so sorry for bringing this up D:
It's kinda like playing mass effect 2, if you've seen the first part you'll get a slight giggle and you'll see LoK in a whole new light. If you haven't, well it'll still be awesome but not to the same extent.

The intro of LoK does an okay job of summing everything up so just start watching. Just need to know that the fire nation was trying to take over the world, standard stuff.

 

[DoPo]

Go and watch Avatar now, not because you need to, but because you NEED to. It's made of so much awesome that your avatar can be called "Depressed face" in comparison.

Other than that, I don't think there is any plot continuation between the two shows. There are apparently 1-2 characters from the old show but the time line is advanced quite far ahead.

 

[uneek]

The universe is this sort of Asian setting where people practice martial arts that allow them to control the 4 basic elements. The avatar is well...the avatar of the world taking human form. He or she is able to master all four elements. The original series took place in a war started by the fire nation that lasted a hundred years because the current avatar was stuck in an iceberg(long story, not necessary). He also happened to be the last airbender(hence the subtitle) because the rest were wiped out by the fire nation. He was discovered by a girl named Katara and her brother Sokka who are from a water tribe in the south. Long story short, they stopped the war and peace was restored. The rest is told by the opening narration of the new series.

That's all you need to know.(Well except maybe Zuko, but his story is too hard to summarize and he's probably not gonna be important enough to know about)

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

You really don't need to know much about the past show to enjoy LoK.

Because I fucking LOVE LoK and I wasn't exactly a fan of the original.

Not saying it doesn't HELP to know about the past show to get the references and stuff, but it's definitely not necessary by any means. You get an almost completely new set of characters and the plot progression (so far) is very different from the original.

 

[Popadoo]

Go and watch Avatar now, not because you need to, but because you NEED to. It's made of so much awesome that your avatar can be called "Depressed face" in comparison.

Other than that, I don't think there is any plot continuation between the two shows. There are apparently 1-2 characters from the old show but the time line is advanced quite far ahead.

I've started watching Avatar since I have a lot of time and I feel it best to get the whole story. I'm 3 episodes in and... thank you thank you thank you. This could be the best show I've seen in a long time.
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm going to start from the beginning.
Now, if you don't mind they just defeated a fire-nation's boat...

 

[snagli]

Avatar taught me more lessons than Mister Rodgers, was funny as hell, had an incredibly coherent story and the action scenes made me ticker go thumpety thump. This show for teens was better than any adult show I've ever seen, and I still watch it all the way through every 6 months or so.

After seeing the first episodes of Legend of Korra, I am SO glad they didn't mess the whole new setting up. Love the slightly more mature setting, the new art style and action style. I want to see more. Now.

You'll REALLY enjoy it more if you've seen the original series. Watch it.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I do not like it.I am sorry but I don't. I love The last airbender but I am having a hard time actualy giving a crap about Korra and the new characters. I will keep an eye on it and as soon as they have an episode where korra meets Aang I will watch it but until then goodbye.

 

[game-lover]

I love it! I think it's great and it's a nice to see a more technological aspect to it. Societal.

Since it seems you're already giving it a go, I won't tell you to watch the first series. But I will say you'll enjoy it. Have fun.

 

[The Funslinger]

Avatar taught me more lessons than Mister Rodgers, was funny as hell, had an incredibly coherent story and the action scenes made me ticker go thumpety thump. This show for teens was better than any adult show I've ever seen, and I still watch it all the way through every 6 months or so.

Agreed. My life philosophy is "How Would Iroh React?"

 

[uneek]

I do not like it.I am sorry but I don't. I love The last airbender but I am having a hard time actualy giving a crap about Korra and the new characters. I will keep an eye on it and as soon as they have an episode where korra meets Aang I will watch it but until then goodbye.

That's too bad because from what I see, most A:TLA fans love "Korra". And the art is IMHO simply beautiful.

 

[Uber Evil]

I do not like it.I am sorry but I don't. I love The last airbender but I am having a hard time actualy giving a crap about Korra and the new characters. I will keep an eye on it and as soon as they have an episode where korra meets Aang I will watch it but until then goodbye.

Aang is dead.... He died way before Korra began.

 

[ChupathingyX]

I do not like it.I am sorry but I don't. I love The last airbender but I am having a hard time actualy giving a crap about Korra and the new characters. I will keep an eye on it and as soon as they have an episode where korra meets Aang I will watch it but until then goodbye.

Aang is dead.... He died way before Korra began.

He could still talk to her through the spirit world.

Aang did it plenty of times with Roku and the other past avatars.

 

[Voonhartking]

watch the original first

 

[brunothepig]

Go and watch Avatar now, not because you need to, but because you NEED to. It's made of so much awesome that your avatar can be called "Depressed face" in comparison.

Other than that, I don't think there is any plot continuation between the two shows. There are apparently 1-2 characters from the old show but the time line is advanced quite far ahead.

I've started watching Avatar since I have a lot of time and I feel it best to get the whole story. I'm 3 episodes in and... thank you thank you thank you. This could be the best show I've seen in a long time.
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm going to start from the beginning.
Now, if you don't mind they just defeated a fire-nation's boat...

It gets so much better, especially after season 1. Anyway, sounds like I'm not needed, but yeah, good choice. You don't need to have seen Avatar to understand Korra or anything, it really helps to see how the world changed and how the different characters influenced that, but it's unnecessary. As DoPo said, you need to see it because it's a great show.

 

[TheNaut131]

Avatar taught me more lessons than Mister Rodgers, was funny as hell, had an incredibly coherent story and the action scenes made me ticker go thumpety thump. This show for teens was better than any adult show I've ever seen, and I still watch it all the way through every 6 months or so.

Agreed. My life philosophy is "How Would Iroh React?"

I fucking love Iroh! He was just such a great character! Plus, it's really hard not to like him, let alone hate him after this episode.


It sucks even more when you realize this part of the episode was actually a tribute to Makoto Iwamatsu, Iroh's voice actor for book 1 and 2, who died of cancer.

 

[Smiley Face]

I do not like it.I am sorry but I don't. I love The last airbender but I am having a hard time actualy giving a crap about Korra and the new characters. I will keep an eye on it and as soon as they have an episode where korra meets Aang I will watch it but until then goodbye.

That's too bad because from what I see, most A:TLA fans love "Korra". And the art is IMHO simply beautiful.

I'm enjoying Korra, but not quite as much as ATLA. It's getting a lot of things right, but there's a few things that irk me. It's been too exposition-heavy so far - the first double episode did a good job of establishing things, but it really needs some filler, or at least something more laid back, some time to let the ensemble coallesce without throwing season-arc plot at you - a reference point, a sense of stability from which to shake things up. Strangely, without that, it feels like not enough happens in the show, because we aren't getting any resolution, and the small resolution we get from largely self-contained episodes helps to provide a metrestick of progress. Hopefully they'll give something largely self-contained in one of the next few episodes, probably something around pro-bending.

But that's criticism of how Korra stands up to Avatar - on its own, Korra is still fantastic, with senses of art, music, style and humour that made Avatar really something, and it's innovating with them to the point where it feels fresh and yet familiar.

Also, with the most recent episode, the Aang flashbacks made me excited.

 

[MPerce]

I'd watch TLA first. Korra does a great job of standing on its own, but it definitely helps to have the background information. Also, TLA is a great show.

Slightly unrelated: episode 4 isn't on iTunes yet. I paid 30 bucks to get all these episodes in HD, and that's how I wanna watch such a beautifully animated show, so it's really annoying that they're this late with it.

Who is it I should send an angry email to?

 

[A Satanic Panda]

I'd watch TLA first. Korra does a great job of standing on its own, but it definitely helps to have the background information. Also, TLA is a great show.

Slightly unrelated: episode 4 isn't on iTunes yet. I paid 30 bucks to get all these episodes in HD, and that's how I wanna watch such a beautifully animated show, so it's really annoying that they're this late with it.

Who is it I should send an angry email to?

Nicktoons puts up LoK on their website the day it airs. That's how I've been watching it. But the quality is 'meh.' Speaking of which their is a new episode tomorrow I think.

 

[MPerce]

Nicktoons puts up LoK on their website the day it airs. That's how I've been watching it. But the quality is 'meh.' Speaking of which their is a new episode tomorrow I think.

Yeah, but....HD!

Ugh, you're probably right. I'll just cut my losses and watch it online right now. They had the third episode on iTunes pretty quick, so hopefully this is a one time thing.

If it's not, I'll be really annoyed I bought that season pass...